The Port of Niigata lies on
Japan’s western shores where the Shinano River meets the Sea of Japan. It is
the largest city and capital of Niigata Prefecture. In 2005, it was
merged with several nearby municipalities, and its population grew
substantially overnight. In 2005, almost 814 thousand people called the Port of
Niigata home.

The Port of Niigata has long been a port town, and it is
still the main port on the Sea of Japan. The Port of Niigata imports mostly raw
materials and coal, and it has brisk trade with Russia and South Korea. Its
city government was formed in 1889.

Port History

Although parts of the area were under water during the Jōmon period, humans lived
in the Port of Niigata area. Archaeological evidence suggests a fortress was
built there in the middle 7th Century AD.

The Port of Niigata was established in the 16th Century, and
the town prospered during the Sengoku Period. During
the 17th and 18th Centuries, canals were built on the Port of Niigata’s main
island. Fishermen based in the port chased salmon and other fish as far north
as the Kamchatka
Peninsula.

In the early 18th Century, one canal on the Agano River was
destroyed by floods, but it redirected the river’s main current and decreased
the amount of water that flowed into the Port of Niigata. The benefit to this
mishap was making land available for reclamation and the development of new
rice fields.

The Port of Niigata was designated as one of five ports by
the Japan-US Treaty of
Amity and Commerce to be opened for international trade, but ships could
not dock there until 1869 due to the shallow water levels. Ships arrived from
and departed to the United States, France, the Netherlands, Russia, and the
United Kingdom, and they continue to arrive regularly today.

The Port of Niigata was an important strategic location
during World War II. It was the sailing point for military personnel and
settlers going to the Asian continent. As the war ended, the Port of Niigata
was one of four cities targeted for the atomic bomb by the United States. Responding
to rumors, the prefecture governor ordered an evacuation, and the Port of
Niigata remained empty for several days.

Due to bad weather, Nagasaki
was the recipient of the bomb meant originally for the Port of Niigata. Nonetheless,
the Port of Niigata has had its fair share of problems. In 1955, a terrible
fire destroyed much of the city’s downtown area. In 1964, a 7.5 earthquake
killed 29 people and causing severe property damage. Almost 2,000 buildings
were leveled, 6,650 partly destroyed, and over 15 thousand were inundated by
liquefaction. That year, the canals were filled in to create new roads. In
1965, the Showa Electrical Company’s chemical plant polluted the Agano River
with methylmercury,
and almost 700 people presented symptoms of Minamata disease.

In 1967, the Port of Niigata became the first designated
port on the Sea of Japan, and in 1995, it was designated the only Core
International Port on those shores.

The Port of Niigata increased in population and size
dramatically between 2001 and 2005 as a result of mergers with nearby cities.
In 2007, the Port of Niigata became Japan’s first government-designated city on
the west Honshu coast. In 2008, the Port of Niigata played host to the 2008 G8 Labor Ministers’ meeting.